1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to building constructions including walls, domes, curved roof structure retaining wall system and water embankments utilizing sandbags interconnected with barbed wire to create a strong, long lasting and earthquake resistant structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Sandbags have been used for centuries as elements in building temporary dikes, protection walls in combat zones, as well as numerous lesser important applications. Normally after the structure has served its temporary purpose, the sandbags have been removed, emptied and disposed of. According to the present invention a construction system is created wherein the sandbag is an integral part of a permanent system of construction.
The most serious drawback in the past concerning using sandbags as a structural element is the fact that a stack of bags has no tensile capabilities. This kept any structure very low in height. Curved, arched or domed structures were impossible without some tensile resistance being available.
According to the present invention, the use of barbed wire or a similar element between sandbag layers allows one to develop the tensile and shear capabilities which has not been considered in the past.
The second problem with using sandbags as part of a permanent structure is the potential deterioration of the bag and the subsequent effect on the structure.
According to the present invention stabilized or unstabilized, adobe or other overlay materials are used to shield the sandbags from the elements and the effect of the elements on the deterioration of a sandbag structure.
The third problem with the use of sandbags as part of a permanent structure has been due to the use of loose fill material, usually sand, which can be loaded easily and gotten rid of when the temporary structure is disposed of.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, different mixes of fluent, particulate material are used to fill the sandbag, which include, on occasion, organic, manufactured, recycled or cementious materials that shape the fill material into a permanent block.
The shape of any structure is of primary importance in order to take advantage of the building material being used. Modern building materials such as structural steel, plywood, mill lumber, and a multitude of other items are normally made available with rectangular shapes. This has made the construction of curved wall or roof structures difficult if not impossible. In addition, it becomes very expensive to construct curved surfaces with flat materials. All mating surfaces are normally flat and make the construction of curved surfaces nearly impossible. The sandbag, because of its flexibility allows us to construct curved surfaces easily and economically.
In the past, the construction of domed or arched surfaces, has required the extensive use of falsework to support the roofs until they are completed and self supporting. The stepping and sloping of sandbags allows us to build these structure without the use of forms.
The design of sandbag structures can be very expensive because each building becomes a very unique structure. Modern computers now allow for the design on an individual basis.
Heretofore, it has been proposed to provide metal wire trellises filled with stone for a dam in the Kato U.S. Pat. No. 2,145,396.
Also, the Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,031 and the Mohss U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,623 teach the provision of elongate bags, such as sand bags, for receiving dirt or other particulate matter.
Then, the Bradley U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,557 discloses an elongate geotextile container of generally circular crosssection for receiving fill and for being positioned along a river bank for preventing erosion of the river bank.
Previously proposed structures for holding sand bags together are disclosed in the Dicker U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,832 which teaches vertical reinforcing rods extending between layers of porous sacks containing a dry premixed fill of aggregate, sand and cement, the Bayer U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,368 which teaches hook and loop pile fasteners (Velcro.RTM.) attached to adjacent sand bags in stacked layers to aid in stacking and retaining sand bags in a vertically stacked relation, and the Knittel U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,599 which teaches a pair of spaced straps secured to a sand bag and having end loops extending outwardly from the bag through which loops of straps of a superimposed sand bag can be inserted.